WALSALL have been linked with a move for former Wolves defender Chris Westwood.

Hartlepool centre back Westwood is available on a Bosman free after the League One side fell at the final play-off hurdle against Sheffield Wednesday, a game in which he was sent off.

Westwood, aged 28, was born in Dudley, and sources in the North East are now suggesting he has been offered a route back to the Midlands by Paul Merson.

The Walsall playermanager is currently away from Bescot, but will be keeping in touch with any developments, and Westwood would certainly fit the bill of the sort of player he is looking for.

He emerged at Molineux as a trainee before making six first team appearances prior to being moved out to Reading on a free transfer.

Things didn't go to plan following his switch to the Royals, but it was at Hartlepool, under former Wolves' youth coach Chris Turner, that Westwood flourished. He has since made almost 300 appearances for the League One outfit, and has proved the lynchpin of the defence that guided Pools to promotion from League Two and two successive appearances in the play-offs.

Merson's main priority is for a left back, having let Zigor Aranalde go just prior to the transfer deadline and the collapse of the deal to sign David Perpetuini, but he is also thin on the ground in terms of central defenders.

Meanwhile Aranalde, who departed Bescot for a short-term deal with Sheffield Wednesday, has been released by Paul Sturrock following the club's promotion to the Championship.